By participating in Growthtrac's message boards or chats, you are agreeing to abide by our Discussion Standards. (You should also review the Growthtrac Terms & Conditions, which you agree to abide by when you become a Growthtrac member.)

As with every Covenant, we make promises to each other. Growthtrac endeavors to provide a safe, well-lit space where members are encouraged to treat each other with respect and affection. We will be sensitive to your privacy with regard to re-publishing your words and we encourage you to report problems to us.

A Safe, Well-Lit Place: We promise that we will try to do everything humanly possible to ensure that our chats and boards are safe, well-lit places. We will train our Moderators to be helpful and friendly.

Respect and Affection: Growthtrac is a place where it's okay to be yourself —be that harried, jovial, silly or sad — as long as you always act with respect for your fellow community members. We promise that at Growthtrac Community, you won't have to leave your personality at the door. We promise to bring passion to our work and to our community and to act with affection and appreciation for our members. We will listen to your suggestions and complaints, and try to incorporate your ideas in everything we do.

Re-publishing Your Words: Because we know that your words are often filled with wisdom and insight, we have dedicated ourselves to bringing the best of our community to a larger audience. We do this by quoting your message board posts in newsletters, throughout the Growthtrac network and Growthtrac promotions including in our sites and even in books, newspaper columns, radio and tv programs. When re-publishing your quotes for wide distribution, we will identify you only by your Growthtrac member name. We promise to be sensitive in this effort.

Reporting Problems: If you encounter a violation to this covenant, please email us. If you have problems navigating our site or finding information, please email us .

Don't Be Afraid to Post: If you're new to our community, taking the step for the first time to post publicly to a message board (or to join in live chat) can sometimes seem intimidating. Don't be afraid to jump into a discussion. We have a very supportive community that serves up heavy doses of support, encouragement and enthusiasm. We love meeting new people and making new friends.

Feel Free to Lurk and Listen: While we hope that you'll become an active participant and join in our discussions, you're welcome, of course, to simply hang out silently until you feel more comfortable posting a message or joining in a chat. When perusing message boards or attending live group meetings, it's okay to do so silently.

Tap Into an Incredible Fountain of Information: Whether you're looking for answers to a spiritual concern, a marriage event or want to share a new book or CD, our members are here to help. The Growthtrac Community is your place to get the answers you need and talk about the things that interest you most.

Welcome Newcomers: When newcomers arrive, say "hi" and welcome them to our growing community. Many of our community's "old timers" (regardless of age) are a wealth of knowledge and have much to share. Help new folks "learn the ropes" about how to find information and resources, save time, and how to get involved.

Agree to Disagree, Respectfully: We invite and encourage a healthy exchange of opinions; disagreements are okay. If you disagree with a member's post or opinion during a live chat, by all means, challenge the opinion. However, any challenge must be given with a sense of respect and caring for the other person. The real objective of community is to understand each other, not to attack others and convince them that you're right. Name calling, insults, "flaming" and attacks are not appropriate and will not be tolerated. Agree to disagree respectfully.

Don't Attack Each Other: Because this is so important, we'll say it again: Don't attack others. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully ... without insult and personal attack.

Harassing, offensive, vulgar, abusive, hateful or bashing communications —especially those aimed at sexual orientation, gender, race, color, religious views, national origin, or disability —will not be permitted. Before you post a message (or say something during a live chat) that is intended to embarrass, humiliate or harass another person or group of people, stop and THINK first! Harassing communications are considered to be those that may cause distress, embarrassment, unwanted attention or other discomfort.

Keep Personal Information Personal: Think before you post or speak: Do you really want to put your address or telephone number on the public message board or share it during a live chat? We encourage you to keep personal information personal, and to remind your children to do so, too.

Similarly, do not ask for personal information from others. Message board posts that request members to submit personal information to another party will be removed unless these posts have been pre-approved by Growthtrac staff. This includes, but is not limited to, communications that ask for personal information submitted via email, mail, telephone, surveys, and research studies.

Keep Your Posts Clean: There may be places where explicit, obscene or vulgar language, graphics or behavior is appropriate: Growthtrac Community is not one of them. Message board posts that contain explicit, obscene or vulgar language will be removed. Similarly, message board posts that solicit or offer explicit or X-rated GIFs, JPEGs or other graphic files will be deleted without notice!

Be Courteous: Do not post the same message more than once on a message board or on many boards. Duplicate messages can be frustrating for other members, especially for those whose time and energy is limited. Weeding through the same message in multiple locations can be not only frustrating, but down right annoying. Duplicate messages will be deleted.

Don't Post Commercial Items: Don't post commercial messages or solicitations in message boards or during live chats. Posts containing commercial or product/service promotional messages —included but not limited to references to internet sites, URLs, or links to other commercial Web sites —will be removed.

Don't Post Others' Copyrighted Information: Information copyrighted or owned by any individual or entity other than the member should not be posted on the message boards or software libraries without the consent of the owner. If such an event occurs, the individual posting the information shall be held solely responsible. Growthtrac shall not be held responsible for member-posted information that may violate copyright law.

We Reserve the Right Growthtrac reserves the right to remove a post which does not relate to the topic being discussed in the board. In addition, Growthtrac reserves the right to organize message boards (or folders) in order to best serve the majority of our members. For example, narrow-interest or minimal activity topics may, at Growthtrac's discretion, be relocated to a more appropriate folder or message board, or deleted entirely.

Growthtrac also reserves the right to prohibit or delete messages that are thought to violate applicable law or that may be harmful to other members, the communities that comprise Growthtrac, or the rights of Growthtrac or others. That said, Growthtrac does not have the practical ability to restrict conduct or communications that might violate Growthtrac's Covenant or Terms & Conditions prior to transmission on AOL or the Web, nor can we ensure prompt removal of offending message board posts.

We also reserve the right to remove your Growthtrac membership from you should you violate this Covenant or any of our Terms & Conditions.